JNGD.S8.G27 Flight Plan: Jets Looking For An East Coast Sweep

Although it’s been a topsy-turvy road trip for the Winnipeg Jets, they are looking to sweep the east as they roll into Brooklyn tonight. The Jets are coming off two consecutive games where leads were given up in the third period and had to be decided in extra time. Against the Devils it was the Jets who gave up a lead before they won in overtime. The next night it was Winnipeg’s turn to make a comeback as they scored three unanswered in the third period before winning in a shootout against the Rangers. Even with a depleted defense, the Jets are searching for their fourth consecutive victory as the east coast road trip has treated them well.

Jets Notebook

As mentioned above, the Jets are coming off back to back games that needed extra time. Now playing their third game in four nights, the fatigue will be setting in, especially for the top pairing of Morrissey and Trouba who played an average of 28:37 and 27:00 respectively over the past two games.

With the top pairing logging such extreme ice-time, the distribution is interesting. Myers has also played 27:10 over the past two games. Beyond that, Niku has played fewer than eight minutes each game while Schilling is averaging just over ten minutes per game. It’s a bold strategy that seems to be paying off in the short term for Maurice.

Mark Scheifele has been phenomenal for the Jets as of late. With back to back game winning goals (shootout winner against the Rangers), he has been honoured as the First Star of the Week. In the past four games, Scheifele has five goals and three assists and is finding his form on the top line.

Connor Hellebuyck has won his last few games despite terrible statistics. He beat both the Blackhawks and the Rangers with a save percentage of .842 or lower and is now down to a .902 on the season. Maurice has mentioned about potentially giving Hellebuyck some time off to rest and that might be the smart thing to do given his play as of late.

The Jets are wrapping up their east coast road trip tonight and head back to Winnipeg where they begin a four game homestand against the Blues on Friday.

Last Jets Game

Islanders Notebook

The Islanders are in the middle of the pack in most stats as nothing really jumps out of the page when looking at their team. They lack the high end talent as they don’t even have a double digit goal scorer this season. For comparison, the Jets have Laine, Scheifele, and Connor who all have over ten goals so far. At least both Anders Lee and Brock Nelson have nine goals, although that makes them tied for 63rd across the entire league.

It’s been a fairly even split between Greiss and Lehner as both players have put up decent numbers this year. Greiss has been given the edge lately and has improved to 9-4-1 with a sparkling .926 save percentage.

The player to watch for the Islanders will be Matthew Barzal. He’s currently leading the team in assists, although his scoring ability came into play last season when the Jets visited the Islanders. It was a memorable night for Barzal who scored his first, and so far only, career hat-trick. The Jets will likely be aware of that and will try to limit time and space for the skilled sophomore.

The Islanders are heading on the road after they host the Jets. They’re in Pittsburgh on Thursday before heading into Detroit on Saturday.